Providence mayoral candidates Smiley, Elorza spar over contributions

PROVIDENCE — Providence mayoral candidate Brett Smiley, who emerged as a leading fundraiser during the second quarter, sparred with Democratic primary opponent Jorge Elorza Friday when the two candidates...

PROVIDENCE — Providence mayoral candidate Brett Smiley, who emerged as a leading fundraiser during the second quarter, sparred with Democratic primary opponent Jorge Elorza Friday when the two candidates traded salvos on recent Federal Hill violence.

Smiley issued a news release challenging Elorza to return $2,000 in contributions made by Gianfranco Marrocco, the owner of an Atwells Avenue bar that’s under scrutiny by the city’s licensing authority.

The establishment, The $3 Bar, was the scene of a brawl over the weekend and earlier last week a man was mortally injured during an unrelated disturbance in the back parking lot.

Following a licensing hearing on Wednesday, Marrocco said complaints about his business are racially motivated. He accused the Board of Licenses of carrying out a “witch hunt” and he suggested that Mayor Angel Taveras should “run back to the Dominican Republic.” (Taveras was born in New York.)

In response to Smiley, Elorza called Marrocco’s comments “unacceptable” but his campaign kept possession of the businessman’s donations.

“Gianfranco Marrocco’s comments about Mayor Taveras were unacceptable and a distraction from the real issue here,” Elorza said in a news release Friday. “The violence on Federal Hill must be stopped and I stand ready to work with all of the business owners to aggressively hold any violators accountable, period.

“Now, as to Smiley’s ‘pay to play’ accusations, that’s just plain ridiculous. He is constantly itching for a fight. If Smiley is willing to publicly stand 100% behind everything that every one of his supporters has ever said or done, then I will return Marrocco’s contributions.”

Earlier Friday, Smiley had described Marrocco as someone who makes political contributions and expects “special treatment in return.” Such contributions, he said, reflect a type of “pay-to-pay politics that cannot be allowed to continue.”

Elorza called that “ridiculous.”

Both Elorza and a third candidate in the primary, City Council President Michael Solomon, trailed Smiley in both fundraising and campaign spending during the second quarter, according to campaign finance reports filed late Thursday with the Rhode Island Board of Elections.

Smiley began the quarter with $191,283 and raised about $100,000. His campaign spent $179,703 and it ends the quarter with a balance of $109,661, according to his filing.

Solomon, who leads in fundraising overall, started the April through June period with $602,461 and brought in about $60,000. His campaign spent $135,702 and closed out the quarter with $526,203, according to his filing with the board.

Elorza kicked off the quarter with a balance of $217,082 and raised about $66,000. After spending about $65,500, he finished the quarter with almost exactly the same amount of proceeds that he started with.

A fourth candidate, Chris Young, is due to report on his campaign’s second-quarter finances early next month under rules that gave this leeway to candidates who did not have existing accounts with the board when they declared their candidacy.

Candidates for mayor who are not Democrats, including former Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr., did not have a deadline for reporting campaign finances on Thursday.